The phrase "affect the minds" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when discussing the influence or impact on people's thoughts, beliefs, or perceptions.
Example: "The documentary aimed to affect the minds of its viewers by presenting compelling evidence and emotional stories."
Alternatives: "influence the thoughts" or "impact the perceptions".
Killing certainly did affect the minds of those exposed to the first world war.
All the same, could his stance filter down and affect the minds of the most hardened homophobes?
Little attention was given to the actual process of education: how events in the classroom affect the minds of the students.
"I was sitting there counting the tiles, bored as hell, and I was thinking about how I wanted to get arrested on my terms and do it in a way that would be thought provoking and affect the minds of the police officers and courts," Szporer recently told me.
(This, too, is an American tradition: in January of 1777, George Washington, wintering over in New Jersey, warned his troops about an upcoming partial eclipse so that it wouldn't "affect the minds of the Soldiery, and be attended with some bad consequences").
By Antwaun Sargent December 9, 2015 "I wanted to get arrested on my terms and do it in a way that would be thought provoking and affect the minds of the police officers and courts," the performance artist Lech Szporer said.
And as it turned out, muscles did affect the mind.
But recent research has claimed these molecules are too large to "pass the blood-brain barrier" and affect the mind.
Of all the afflictions that fall upon us, few remain as misunderstood and stigmatized as those that affect the mind.
(3) How can we ensure that the design of tools and the way they affect the mind through use are ethically sound?
Lebanon's history of war and the ongoing potential for conflict do not only affect practicalities, they affect the mind-set of the customer and the designer.
